Is keto for athletes? More often than not my answer is no. But it depends on your sport of choice. Ask yourself, if your sport requires kindling burning (FAST; carbohydrates) or log burning (SLOW; fats). If the answer is FAST, then keto simply is not for you. The low level of carbohydrates will lead to a drop in performance at high intensities. Classic examples here of where keto would be a terrible idea include hockey, rugby, football, or crossfit.

People without a gallbladder should steer clear of a ketogenic diet if they are not taking every precaution necessary. That’s because the gall bladder potentiates bile by 2-5 fold. And bile is responsible for the break down of all the fatty acids we consume on a ketogenic diet. No gall bladder, poor bile function, poor digestion and assimilation of fats.

When it comes to hypothyroidism, we actually require carbohydrates to make T3 from T4. T3 is the active hormone which is actually responsible for many metabolic processes of the body (including the traditional “metabolism” which is incorrectly used term but represents our ability to burn calories). Those with hypothyroidism already have LOW T3; this is the MAJOR problem with hypothyroidism. Thus, a ketogenic could very well make things worse. Not to mention these individuals quite often have poor bile function.

Individuals who carry the APOE4 allele do not deal well with high levels of saturated fats. A simple 23andme genetic test can reveal this. This people should instead stick to a diet higher in monounsaturated fatty acids, poly unsaturated fatty acids, and LOW saturated fats. So technically speaking, a keto diet could work. But it has to be severely altered.

If you have an abundance of “bad bacteria” in your gut (e.g. SIBO; small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) then keto could be problematic. Here’s how….if you are losing a bunch of weight you will be releasing these bacteria alongside LPS (lipopolysaccharide). LPS is extremely pro inflammatory. Here’s the problem with the high fat content; it can act as “lipid rifts” which can transport this proinflammatory LPS out of gut and into our circulation. This is BAD and will trigger a massive inflammatory response. Those with issues such as SIBO would be better off reducing fats (not completely, just not as high as on keto) in order to efficiently secrete this bacterial overgrowth, and avoid this rafts which cause inflammation and other health issues.

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